Embedded Files
Ecological mechanisms and genetic basis of habitat partitioning
Ecological mechanisms and genetic basis of habitat partitioning
Many co-occuring species spatially segregate along environmental gradients. Habitat partitioning is often due to divergent adaptations in different species, species interactions, or a combination of these factors (Toll 2023, American Journal of Botany). We use two closely related monkeyflower species that segregate across soil moisture gradients (M. guttatus in wet seeps & M. nudatus in dry outcrops) on serpentine soils as a system to understand the ecological mechanisms of habitat partitioning (e.g., hybridization: Toll and Lowry 2022, American Naturalist) and the genetic basis of divergent adaptations that contribute to habitat partitioning (e.g., submergence tolerance: Toll and Willis 2018, Ecology).
Local adaptation and specializationÂ
Local adaptation and specializationÂ
Organisms that inhabit different environments are often locally adapted, yet little is known about the genetic basis of local adaptation. Divergent natural selection across environments can also contribute to reproductive isolation and the evolution of ecological specialization. We are interested in the genetic basis of adaptation to understand how highly specialized species arise and persist and how genetic variation is maintained within species.
We are currently focusing on the genetic basis of specialization in the serpentine endemic M. nudatus, and the maintenance of genetic variation for serpentine tolerance in the soil generalist M. guttatus.
We are interested in the phenotypic and genetic basis of local adaptation to seasonal and spatial variation in wind speed, salt spray and sand abrasion, in populations of coastal perennial monkeyflowers directly exposed to or protected from the ocean.
Google Sites
Report abuse